The thin-film transistor (TFT) formed using a thin film on an insulating surface is widely used in an integrated circuit and the like. In particular, the thin-film transistor is often used as a switching element in a display panel of a thin display device as represented by a liquid crystal TV and the like, and an application of the thin-film transistor is expanding to be used for a portable terminal, a large display device, and the like.
In a conventional display device using the TFT, a film is formed on an entire surface of a substrate, a pattern of the TFT and the like is formed using a photolithography process, an etching process. an ashing process, and the like. More than half of such production processes are likely to be performed in vacuum devices.